u/startupsubmit

I run StartupSubmit we submit founders' products to startup directories by hand so I've done this 150-200+ times now. The thing nobody tells you: bad directory submissions can actively hurt you, and most cheap "500+ directories!" services are doing exactly that. Here's how I think about it now.

Source authority is the whole game. A backlink is only worth having if it comes from a domain with real authority. We only submit to directories in the DR 30-90+ range that's where the link equity actually is. The hundreds of DR 2-10 directories that pad "500+" claims add nothing, and a pile of junk links can look spammy to Google rather than help.

Relevance matters as much as authority. A backlink from a niche-relevant directory (SaaS product listed on a SaaS/tech directory) carries more weight than a random general listing. We match products to relevant directories instead of blasting the same submission everywhere that's the difference between a link profile that looks earned and one that looks manufactured.

No spam sites, ever. Some services submit to link farms and low-quality aggregators because it inflates the number. Those are the listings you'll later be trying to disavow. Clean, high-DR, relevant sources only fewer listings, better ones.

The honest expectation on your own DR: high-authority directory backlinks strengthen your link profile and compound with the rest of your SEO. DR depends on your whole profile, not one batch of links. What you can count on is a set of legitimate, relevant, high-authority referring domains you didn't have to build by hand.

Why hand submission matters: every directory wants name, tagline, short/long descriptions, a specific logo size, category, sometimes a video. Doing 80+ by hand is why most founders quit after 10. Getting it done correctly, on the good directories only is most of the value.

Happy to answer directory questions in the comments I stare at these listings all day.

Pitch your product in 1-2 lines - and drop a link here.

I'm Working on StartupSubmit helps to founders get listed in High authority Directories to Boost SEO, DR, Backlinks and early traffic. Get ranking in on Google & LLMs.

Here's the Link: StartupSubmit[.]app

I've been working on StartupSubmit, a service that helps founders get their startups listed on relevant directories, and after handling submissions for 1,600+ startups, I've noticed a few things I didn't expect.

1. More directories doesn't always mean better.
A big list looks impressive, but a lot of directories aren't worth the time. I now check whether a site is actually active, indexed and relevant before spending time on a submission.

2. Don't copy-paste the same description everywhere.
Small changes to the title and description make the submissions look much more natural. It also forces you to explain the product differently instead of relying on one generic pitch.

3. Approval and indexing are two different things.
Getting accepted doesn't mean Google has crawled the page. Some listings get indexed quickly, while others can take weeks or never get picked up.

4. Timing matters for launches.
If you're launching on Product Hunt or another launch platform, getting your supporting listings started early makes more sense than waiting until launch day.

5. The boring part is actually the hard part.
Finding the right directories, checking requirements, creating accounts, filling forms, following up and keeping track of everything takes a surprising amount of time.

That's basically why I ended up building StartupSubmit[.]app, in the first place. We currently handle the manual submission work for founders rather than just handing them a spreadsheet of directories.

I'm still learning from every batch we work through. Curious what other founders here have found useful for getting their first few weeks of visibility after launching.

https://preview.redd.it/xcc9pevvqrhh1.png?width=813&format=png&auto=webp&s=201a635730b72534f4cadec605cfa3a4928ebe80

When I started StartupSubmit, I thought founders mainly cared about launch week.

Product Hunt.

Reddit.

X.

LinkedIn.

After working with more startups, I realized something else mattered just as much.

What happens after launch.

One founder we worked with had a solid product but almost no visibility outside of their initial launch.

Instead of chasing another big launch, we spent the next few weeks doing something far less exciting.

We manually submitted their product to relevant startup directories, SaaS directories, launch platforms, communities, and review sites.

No shortcuts.

No automation.

Just consistent work.

About a month later, they shared an updated Ahrefs screenshot with us. Their Domain Rating had increased significantly compared to where they started.

The interesting part for me wasn't the number.

It was the reminder that founders often underestimate the value of doing small, boring things consistently.

I'm curious how everyone here thinks about post-launch growth.

What's one marketing activity that kept paying off long after launch day was over?

https://preview.redd.it/kkdp9mayfdhh1.png?width=2080&format=png&auto=webp&s=defe456f000323d6accd92a1eef92504d8507592

That's a client domain, few weeks after we wrapped 200+ submissions.

The thing I got wrong early on is that I treated this as a volume game. It isn't. Submitting to 220 random directories and 220 chosen ones look identical on day one and nothing alike a month later.

Three things that actually decide it:

Relevance. A SaaS product listed across SaaS and AI directories builds one coherent signal. The same product scattered across generic business listings just builds noise. Google and the LLMs both read the neighborhood you're in, not the count.

Whether the site is alive. Most directory lists getting passed around are half dead pages and unindexed junk. Knowing which ones still get crawled is most of the actual work, and it shifts constantly.

Approvals, not submissions. Submitting takes a minute. Getting approved needs a square logo at the right size, a demo link that loads cold with no login wall, and a description written for a tired reviewer instead of an investor. That's where DIY runs usually lose half their listings.

You can see in the screenshot: that's normal for directory profiles and it isn't the mechanism. The value is that you now exist everywhere people and models look. Search your product name plus "alternatives" before and after and it's obvious. Same reason the products ChatGPT keeps recommending in a category are always the ones listed across a lot of overlapping sites. One mention is marketing. Forty consistent ones read as consensus.

If you're doing this yourself, the one thing I'd insist on: keep your description identical everywhere. Consistency beats placement quality, and it's what everyone loses by submission 60 when they start improvising.

I run StartupSubmit[.]app, we do these by hand because the picking and the approval chasing is where the result actually comes from.

Happy to get into specific directories in the comments.

Did this by hand or manually for SaaS/AI founders over 5 months. No automation. The value distribution is absurdly lopsided.

About 15 directories send actual humans. Product Hunt, BetaList, G2, Capterra, AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, Crunchbase, IH itself. If you do only these, you've captured most of the upside.

Another 60 or so send nobody, but they make you look real. They're why you show up when someone searches "[your product] alternatives."

The remaining 145 are link farms. Nobody visits them. But I keep watching products get cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity after appearing across enough overlapping listings. The models seem to read that redundancy as "this is an established company." Cynical, and the most interesting thing I've learned all year.

Three things I got wrong:

Tailored 40-word descriptions get approved way more than one pasted blurb. Directory mods spot copy-paste instantly.

Nearly all these backlinks are Dofollow and Nofollow. Anyone selling you DR gains from directories is behind or hoping you are.

Approvals trickle in for weeks. Checking results on day 5 and calling it dead is the most common mistake.

Zero budget? Do the top 15 yourself across two weekends. That's most of the value, and it costs nothing but boredom.

Disclosure per Rule 1: I run StartupSubmit, we do this manually for founders who don't want the weekends. Not pitching, no tiers in the comments.

What I actually want critique on: is that 145-directory tail defensible at all, or should I cut the list to 70 and charge less? I lean toward cutting. Tell me I'm wrong.

After spending a lot of time looking at early-stage SaaS launches, I've noticed one pattern that comes up over and over.

Founders put everything into launch week.

Product Hunt, X, Reddit, LinkedIn... then they move on to building.

What often gets overlooked is what happens a month later.

If people can't discover your product after launch, it's easy for momentum to disappear.

Working on StartupSubmit has made me think about discoverability differently. I spend a lot of time looking at where successful SaaS products continue to get found long after launch day, and it's interesting how different every founder's approach is.

Some focus entirely on SEO.

Some build communities.

Some rely on partnerships.

Some consistently submit their product to directories and niche websites.

There doesn't seem to be one perfect strategy.

So I'm curious:

If you had to choose one marketing activity that kept bringing users months after launch, what would it be?

I'm genuinely interested in hearing what's worked in practice rather than what people recommend in theory.

Hi everyone,

I'm an SEO consultant, and I kept seeing founders spend hours manually submitting their startup to directories after launch.

So I built StartupSubmit[.]app.

It helps founders get listed on 200+ startup directories, launch platforms, and review sites through a manual submission service, so they can focus on building instead of filling out the same forms over and over.

I'm still improving it and would love honest feedback from other founders.

• Does this solve a problem you've faced?
• What's one feature or report you'd expect from a service like this?
• Is there anything on the landing page that's unclear or would stop you from trying it?

I appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. It all helps me improve the product.

Hi everyone,

I'm an SEO consultant, and I kept seeing founders spend hours manually submitting their startup to directories after launch.

So I built StartupSubmit[.]app.

It helps founders get listed on 200+ startup directories, launch platforms, and review sites through a manual submission service, so they can focus on building instead of filling out the same forms over and over.

I'm still improving it and would love honest feedback from other founders.

• Does this solve a problem you've faced?
• What's one feature or report you'd expect from a service like this?
• Is there anything on the landing page that's unclear or would stop you from trying it?

I appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. It all helps me improve the product.

Hey everyone,

I'm an SEO consultant, and after working with startups, I noticed many founders launch on Product Hunt, post on X, then move on.

What often gets skipped is submitting to startup directories, review sites, and launch platforms. It's repetitive, but it can help with long-term discoverability.

That's why I built StartupSubmit, a service that manually handles those submissions so founders can spend more time building.

I'm looking for honest feedback before I keep expanding it.

• Would this solve a real problem for you?
• What would make you trust a service like this?
• If you wouldn't use it, what's the biggest reason?

I'd genuinely appreciate your thoughts. I'll take all feedback seriously.

I'm an SEO guy, not a developer.

After looking at hundreds of startup launches, I noticed a pattern. Most founders put everything into launch day, then stop thinking about discoverability.

That's one of the reasons I started StartupSubmit. I kept seeing how much visibility startups were missing simply because they weren't listed where people (and search engines) actually look.

Curious what everyone else thinks.

After launch, what's brought you the most consistent traffic?

Hey builders

The biggest trap I see indie hackers fall into is the "One-and-Done Launch." You spend months writing code, launch on Product Hunt or X, get a tiny spike of traffic, and by day three, your dashboard is completely dead.

You cannot rely on a single launch day anymore. You need sustained, high-intent traffic, which means getting your product listed wherever your specific niche hangs out.

I run Startupsubmit (we handle 100% manual directory submissions for founders), so I spend all day analyzing which platforms actually drive paying users and which ones are just dead link farms.

Let's fix your post-launch traffic dip:

Drop your SaaS or side project below, tell me who your ideal customer is, and I will manually research and reply with 4 highly specific, high-DR directories or communities you need to submit your project to this week to get consistent traffic. 👇

Let’s get you some users!

I'm the founder of StartupSubmit and spend most of my time researching where startups can get discovered online.

Post your startup URL and tell me who it's for.

I'll personally suggest 5 directories, communities, review sites, or launch platforms that make sense for your niche.

No generic AI-generated lists. I'll try to make each recommendation relevant to your product and audience.

Drop your startup below..

I am the founder of StartupSubmit. A service that handles 100% manual directory submissions to build authoritative backlink profiles and drive high-intent traffic for founders.

Drop your startup URL below with a quick sentence about who your target audience is, and I will manually suggest a curated list of 5 high-DR directories, review sites, or launch platforms where your ideal customers are actually searching for tools like yours.

Let’s goooooo!

So when I launched my first product earlier this year, I thought getting visibility would be the easy part, honestly I was so wrong, I literally spent over 40 hours just manually submitting to startup directories and it was absolutely mind-numbing

The worst part wasn't even the submission itself, it was trying to remember which ones I'd already done, I had this messy spreadsheet with like 300+ rows and half the time I'd submit to the same directory twice or completely forget one, plus some directories take days to approve so I'd lose track of what was pending vs rejected vs live, it was honestly chaos and I'm pretty sure I missed a ton of good ones

Anyway after going through that nightmare I basically decided to build something that handles all of it automatically, now StartupSubmit tracks submissions, builds backlinks for SEO, and even gets you discoverable on search platforms without the manual headache, kinda wished I had this before wasting all those weekends clicking submit buttons

Curious what the most tedious part of launching has been for you guys, like is it the directory grind or something else that just eats up all your time when you'd rather be building

Talk about real founder struggles.

No selling.